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Press Contact:
Cisco DeVries
(510) 981-7103

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2008

Berkeley Climate Action Plan

Building the Climate Action Movement

We Need You!!

www.berkeleyclimateaction.org

In November 2006, Berkeley voters issued a call to action on the climate challenge by overwhelmingly supporting Measure G.  The mandate was simple, but bold: reduce our entire community’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050.  Achieving this goal will take strong consistent action from the City and by all the people who live, work, and visit.  

On Monday, January 28^th the City released a complete draft of the plan for public review and posted it on the interactive www.berkeleyclimateaction.org website.  Visit the website to review the plan and comment in our web forum! 

The Plan is designed to be both a set of far reaching policies for the City and a roadmap for building the movement in our community to reduce our emissions.

Setting Targets, Seeing Results

The City partnered with ICLEI, an international organization working on climate initiatives with local government, to inventory greenhouse gas emissions in Berkeley.  In the year 2000, Berkeley’s emissions totaled 696,000 tons of greenhouse gases.  To reach our target, our emissions must be reduced by about 2% per year between now and 2050. 

The City also established an interim emissions reduction target: reduce community-wide GHG emissions by 33% below 2000 levels by year 2020. 

The ICLEI analysis showed that Berkeley is ready to take on this challenge.  Between 2000 and 2005, emissions in Berkeley fell by 61,000 tons or nearly 9% – one of the largest reductions documented by any City in the United States. 

As of 2005, Transportation accounted for 47% of all emissions, Residential energy use made up 26%, and the Commercial/Industrial sector accounted for the remaining 27%.

A Vision of Berkeley in 2050

Achieving our emissions reduction targets will require fundamental change in the way people in Berkeley live, work, and get around.  Global warming will create dramatic and destabilizing changes in our world, but it can also be the catalyst for creating a healthier, more sustainable and more just community.  The draft plan puts forward a clear vision of Berkeley in 2050. 

• New and existing Berkeley buildings achieve net zero energy consumption through increased energy efficiency and a shift to renewable energy sources
• Public transit, walking, and biking are the primary means of transportation
• Personal vehicles run on alternative fuels or electricity
• Zero waste is sent to landfills
• The majority of food consumed in Berkeley is produced locally, i.e., within a few hundred miles
• Our community is resilient and prepared for the impacts of a changing climate
• The social and economic benefits of the community’s climate protection effort are shared equitably among everyone.

The draft Climate Plan is a plan is built around changing policies and helping people change behaviors to help meet our goals and make this vision a reality.

A Plan to Achieve Our Goals

The draft Climate Action Plan is broken into five parts, each with its own emission targets, policies, and recommendations for community action.

1. The Building Energy Use section targets reducing energy waste in our homes, businesses and institutions and “greening” the energy supplies that we consume.  It includes a bold new plan to create “net zero energy” homes and businesses through a series of initiatives, mandates, and incentives including the groundbreaking new program (called Berkeley FIRST) to voluntarily finance solar and energy efficiency projects on individual property tax bills.

2. The Sustainable Transportation & Land Use section works to move people away from their cars and into transit, bikes, and walking shoes. Recommendations include dramatic expansions of car sharing services, new and improved bicycle routes, increased housing and retail services in Berkeley’s transit corridors, free public transit programs, and more.

3. The Waste Reduction & Recycling chapter builds on the City’s adopted goal of zero waste to landfills by the year 2020 with specific recommendations to extend producer responsibility for waste, reduce packaging, and make recycling mandatory at public events.

4. The Adapting to a Changing Climate section recognizes that just as we prepare for earthquakes and other disasters, we must also prepare for a changing climate.  Increased fire risk, loss of drinking water, rising bay waters, and increasing energy costs are just a few of the serious challenges we will face.  The chapter recommends a series of preparedness actions. 

5. The Community Outreach & Empowerment chapter is perhaps the most important in the Climate Action Plan.  Without consistent and steady changes in how people choose to live and get around, we simply cannot meet the Measure G targets.  This section envisions a long-term community-wide engagement effort to provide information, resources, and a way for people to learn from and help each other.  The effort began with the Berkeley Climate Action pledge.

Hundreds Participated in Community Planning

The draft plan was developed as part of a broad community discussion that began with the voters approval of Measure G.  The City colleted comments and ideas at dozens of public meetings as well as from booths at fairs and festivals, and many more ideas were submitted on line.  In the end, over 1,000 suggestions and ideas were received – many of which were included in the Climate Plan. 

Next Steps – Comments Due by March 7^th

The City has created a public forum on the website www.berkeleyclimateaction.org for people to review the Climate Action Plan and provide comments and suggestions.  In addition, the City will be holding public meetings at a number of City Commissions for more in depth discussion and review.  All comments are due by March 7^th.

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